Los Angeles, the Automobile and the Rest of the World

For weeks, drivers in LA have been warned on freeway signs, televised news conferences and by celebrity Tweeters about possible chaos beginning at midnight tonight. The capital of car culture will be without a major artery for 53 hours when the 405 freeway shuts down between the Westside and the San Fernando Valley. What's come to be called "Carmageddon" might be a warning to other cities in a world now clogged with more than two billion automobiles. Should the romance with the automobile be turned into tough love in order to ease congestion, protect public health and counteract climate change?